Boku to acquire Danal in cash and shares deal; says payments growth more than doubled

6 December 2018 | 09:56am

StockMarketWire.com - Direct carrier billing company Boku said Friday it had signed an agreement to acquire Danal in a cash and shares deal. The company also said total payment volume more than doubled in the 10 months through October.

The acquisition, expected to be completed on or around 31 December, would provide Boku with an opportunity to offer mobile identity services to its existing digital content customers and also to provide global coverage to Danal customers who were predominantly in the USA, Boku said.

The acquisition would also increase Boku's product range, allowing it to serve non-digital merchants in new sectors and expand its business into new markets, it added.

Under the terms of the deal, Boku agreed to issue of 26.7 million shares, $3m of warrants to vendors, exercisable for five years at an exercise price of £1.41 each, and pledged to pay $1m of cash upon completion.

Boku also agreed pay a deferred consideration of up to $62m, which would be tied to 2019 revenue targets for Danal.

No deferred consideration would be payable if Danal's revenues for the year ending 31 December 2019 are below US$10m, the company said.

'This Acquisition allows us to offer services that go further and to improve user quality for our customers while at the same time improving the mobile experience for users. Mobile commerce is booming, yet many tools were developed to support PC-based commerce,' said Jon Prideaux, Chief Executive Officer of Boku.

'Danal has shown that MNO data can also combat fraud, reduce friction in signup and ensure regulatory compliance on mobile. These problems are relevant not just to our existing digital customers but also in other sectors including e-commerce, finance, transportation and government.'

The company also revealed positive performance for the 10 months through October, with total payment volume growing 124% to $2.8bn from a year earlier, and monthly active users growing 83% to 12.2m.

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